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User blog:Gaskarths/Under The Roof
UNDER THE ROOF; Lizzy, in her reliable and totally unbiased opinion, was probably the best choice for a roommate ever. She had a lot of marketable traits and qualities that were well suitable for a fun and caring living companion: minimal (therefore environmentally and cost-friendly) shower habits, extensive knowledge on tropical birds, kickass hash brown making skills, and with the right amount of alcohol and technological availability, the immensely coveted talent of playing the theme from Banjo Kazooie. So why was Lizzy having so much trouble finding replacements for her previous roommates? |} ---- EPISODE II // BOYS Lizzy had the five blocks to her apartment complex to come up with a stellar plan. At first her determination had her fast-walking down the streets, but when the realization that she needed a little information to boost her argument dawned to her, she slowed to a snail pace, going as far as to stop and pick a dandelion in one of the cracks of the sidewalk and pin it to her hair. Gegi matched her paces, stopped when she did, always at her side evenly. '' '''Lizzy': So...tell me about yourself! Let's get to know each other. When Gegi didn’t answer, Lizzy got more specific. '' '''Lizzy': Okay, well, how old are you? Gegi: 19. Another dandelion weed stuck out in the cracks of the sidewalk and Gegi crushed the fluffy white puff underneath her boot. '' '''Gegi': You? Lizzy: 19. Lizzy winced. Everything past 18 felt old. '' '''Lizzy': Did you finish high school?” Gegi: Yeah. Lizzy: So, you had someplace to stay in high school, yeah? Gegi didn’t say anything, but Lizzy turned her head in time to see her nodding slowly. Her eyes flickered to how Lizzy clutched the strap on her backpack more fiercely and how an uneasy look quirked her mouth into a thin line. Whereever she was staying obviously pushed a button, so Lizzy decided to leave that issue for another day. Lizzy: Do you have your driver’s license? IDs and such? (she grinned a bit when Gegi nodded) That’s good. They reached the apartment building and Lizzy had absolutely no convincing argument; if only she had seen enough action movies, she’d completely rip off one of their tragic backstories. Once they got in the elevator and the doors closed, Lizzy reached forward and stopped it mid-lift. Lizzy: (she sighs and turns to face Gegi) I meant my offer 100%. I want you to stay here, but I won’t lie. I live with three girls. One of which I can verify will try her damn hardest to kick your ass down the fire escape. (she pauses, trying to think of her other two roommates'…accurate descriptions) The other two are strangers, and as far as I know, harmless, but I have suspicions about one of them. She's an artist, and you never know if she's gonna use a penvil to slash your throat open or something. She seems nice and all, but damn, you can never tell around this city. Gegi: What about the other one? Lizzy: Short as hell, daintier than a finger sandwich. Even your malnourished ass could take her. But the point is you got to convince them that you’re worth free rent. I know that begging isn’t easy, and it’s probably not your style - Gegi: I won't beg. I promise. Lizzy: I don’t want you to. And I don’t think you’ll have to. You just have to make sure that you say something so good that turning you away would be like kicking a dog. You see? It's quiet for a moment, nothing but the stuffy air of the elevator swirling around and beading sweat on the napes of their necks. Gegi: So I'm a dog. Lizzy: (she snaps her fingers, but minds the box of donuts she still carries in her hand) You’re our dog! (she presses the button on the elevator and watches it climb before she brings her finger to tap against her chin in thought) A Labrador. Maybe a German Shepard. They step out of the elevator together and Lizzy gives her final reminders before they walk in. The girls immediately jump up and greet her warmly, but she suspects it's just because of the food - she couldn’t blame them. Just as everyone was getting settled, Lizzy motions for Gegi (who was standing awkwardly in the corner of the kitchen, fiddling with a loose handle on one of the drawers) to her side. Lizzy: Guys, this is Gegi. I met her outside the donut shop. Ash and Yazzy give enthusiastic, genuine greetings while Tori's is muffled and lost in the sound coming from the TV. Clearing her throat, Lizzy continues. Lizzy: Gegi's going to live with us. The three girls take a moment to process the information, and they all seem to have looks of shock on their faces. Tori, however, quickly replaces her shock with a smug grin. She stands up from the couch and puts an arm around Lizzy's shoulders. Tori: Lizzy...we already filled all the rooms. I know that counting is a bit hard for you country folk - Lizzy: ''- fuck you - '''Tori': But this is a four-bedroom apartment, and there's (she points to every girl in the room except Gegi) one, two, three, four of us! Would you look at that... Lizzy: We do have that...fifth room. The wine celler. Tori: Absolutely not. Lizzy: What? Tori: That room is mine. I thought we discussed this. I was gonna use that room to store what's MEANT TO BE STORED in it; my fine collection of liquor. (she brings a palm to her chest dramatically) Also, my law books. Lizzy: We never discussed this! I never even showed you the room. Tori: What? Really? Lizzy: Yeah! Tori: Oh. There's an eerie silence, save for the sounds blaring from some trashy reality show on the TV. Tori: It's still an awful idea though. Lizzy: But Gegi really, really needs a place to stay! Gegi: I can clean for you guys. Work around the place. Anything. Lizzy is impressed by Gegi's generous offer. Lizzy: See! A total sweetheart, lots of charm. She's perfect. Gegi: And I won't let you all down. If I do... She looks around and her eyes land upon Bambi on the wall. Gegi: You can stuff me and put me on the wall right next to him. Tori rolls her eyes and looks over to Ash and Yazzy, hoping to find people who agree with her and not Lizzy, but they're both smiling and Tori can tell they like Gegi already. She quickly looks away. Lizzy: Just...until she can get back on her feet. Tori sighs heavily. Tori: Fine. But this better not be a forever thing! I swear to God. Lizzy: YAY! (she runs over to Tori and almost knocks her over with an enormous hug) Tori: Can you please not!? Yazzy: Welcome to your new home, Gegi! Tori: IT'S NOT HER HOME! Yazzy: Welcome to your new temporary home, Gegi! Things go back to relative normalcy after that; Lizzy orders a pizza, Yazzy turns the TV back on (she switches from Peoples' Court to HGTV, to which Tori whines about incessantly), Ash watches intently, and Lizzy paces back and forth as she waits for the pizza to arrive, not really sure how to revel in her victory. The pizzas come and they all settle on the floor with paper plates (Tori made a loud comment about how she wished they had some real dishware around the house, subtly shading Lizzy for breaking her china dishware the other day) and continue to watch House Hunters because despite Tori's initial reluctance, she was curious to see if the couple was dumb enough to go over their budget and pick house #2. Gegi: (to Lizzy, when the other girls seem distracted enough) You were right. They can't kick out a dog. Lizzy: See? I don't let people down. Gegi: (she hums in agreement) By the way, if I were a dog, I’d probably be a Malamute. Lizzy: A mala-what? / / / The week passed by in a blur for the girls. The boxes were all slowly unpacked over the course of the next couple of days until the flat was finally starting to feel more homey. Lizzy took Gegi out shopping and bought her new clothes, ones more suitable for the scorching summer heat, and even threw in a new mattress to furnish her "bedroom" a bit. Gegi was reluctant to accept Lizzy's generous offerings at first, claiming that Lizzy had already done enough, but Lizzy insisted and well, even Gegi knew by now that Lizzy didn't like being refused. Also, Lizzy sold Tori's couch. It was ugly, and it didn't look like it was going to last much longer. She sold it to the group of boys that moved in next door not that much earlier than Tori moved into the flat, and in return, was greeted with $320. That was a lot of money! Lizzy expected Tori to be upset, but it was just a couch. Plus, now they could buy a nicer one! Right? Wrong. Call it bad luck, fate, or Scene 4A in what could only be described as their poorly humored movie documenting their lives, but the moment Tori walked back into the apartment could only be described as the calm before the storm of the century. And Tori was already yelling. Tori: Where's my couch!? Did you put it in storage!? Lizzy: No, no. I sold it! For, um, $320! We're gonna buy a shiny new one - Tori: You sold my fucking couch? Some would say it was just the shock factor, but Lizzy would attribute it to murderous rage that had her planning on stuffing Ash in a bin and pushing her down a fire escape. Tori went rigid as soon as the words left her lips, her eyes trained on nothing in particular, gaze lost. Her knuckles bled white as she balled her face and her face stained an ugly red that her freckles started to look like spots of blood. Tori: Lizzy...that couch was very...very important. Wanna know why? Lizzy: …sentimental value? Tori: THAT COUCH HAD 15,000 DOLLARS IN IT. IN CASH. On reflex, Lizzy started to laugh out of a mixture of disbelief and downright shock. Lizzy: You can't be serious! When Tori sunk to the floor, Lizzy realized she was completely serious. Motherfuck, that was a ton of money. Yazzy: Holy shit. Ash: Oh...oh my God... Lizzy: Why the fuck did you put $15,000 in your couch!? Tori: Because fuck banks, that’s why! Lizzy took a look around: Ash was shaking, Tori's soul was leaving her body, Yazzy was baffled and Gegi….was putting her shoes on? Gegi: Lizzy, what did the guy look like? (lacing up her new pair of sneakers) The guy you sold the couch to. Lizzy: Er, I sold it to the boys next door! No biggie! A-and the guy I talked to personally, he had shortish brown hair. I think he mentioned he's a photographer. Yazzy: If he’s a photography student and he finds that money, he ain’t ever gonna give it back. Broke-ass college kids. Gegi: We can catch him, since he lives next door. What was he wearing? (she asked this as she went to peel Tori off the living room floor) Lizzy: Button-up and khakis. Kinda on the short side, I guess. Maybe. The word "khakis" was enough to have Tori snapping back up like a Jack-in-the-Box. '' '''Tori': Perfect. A goddamn fucking flower. I can take him. I'll swipe that couch from right under his ass! The girls retreated from the loft and marched next door. Tori almost reached out and knocked the entire door down, but Lizzy quickly pushed her out of the way and knocked on the door. A boy, one she didn't recognize as the one she personally sold the couch to, answered the door. Lizzy quickly took in his features; messy black hair, chunky black glasses that seemed to be the new trend nowadays (although Lizzy personally thought they basically looked like 3D glasses you get at the cinema with the lenses popped out) dark eyes, pale skin and casual clothing. He had an edgy look to him, based off of the frown on his face and the top of a pack of cigarettes peeking out of his jeans' pockets. Definitely not the slightly cute photographer that Lizzy had spoken to earlier. Lizzy: Um, hi! Boy: May I help you? Lizzy: Uh, I sold a couch to your roommate earlier today and...my friend here (gesturing Tori, which earned her a glare) left something...important in the...cushions... Boy: Come in. You can grab it. (he opened the door a bit wider and the girls stepped in) Tori immediately hurried over to the couch, grabbing a nearby empty cardboard box (the boy who answered the door shot her a nasty look) and carefully digging through the cushions, concealing the money from sight (although her suspicious behavior did earn her sketchy eyes from the boy who was playing video games whilst sitting on the floor. However, that boy quickly shifted his eyes over to the window, where Ash was standing and observing something sitting on the windowsell. The boy walked over. Boy: You like him? Ash yelped and hopped backwards. Boy: Did I scare you!? Ash: Sorry! I was just - just checking this out. I'll be on my way - Boy: Nah, stay! He's pretty cool, huh? He's actually my roommate, Hunter's, plant. Ash: Venus flytraps are so amazing...I've always wanted to get them back at my flowershop but we never went through with it. (she shrugged) Boy: You work at a flowershop? Ash: Yeah, it's...pretty lame, huh? (she laughed nervously and pushed a strand of her behind her ear) Boy: I think it's cool! Ash: (she looked up from her feet and her face lit up, although it also turned a deep shade of red) Yeah!? Boy: Yeah! Flowers are neat, you know? Ash: Yeah, they're...pretty neat. They both smiled at each other and then quickly looked away, both blushing In the kitchen, Lizzy, Gegi and Yazzy stood awkwardly next to the boy who had answered the door. They were silent for a while, as they waited for Tori to finish surfing all the money out of the couch, but Lizzy decided to break this silence. Lizzy: So, um, since you guys are our new neighbors, do you maybe want to hang out with us some time soon? You know, like a little get-together. It would be fun. The boy looked at her, and based on how his frown seemed even stronger than the one he was always wearing, Lizzy quickly drew back and resumed the silence. Boy: I'll ask my other roommate if he wants to. When he gets home, that is. Lizzy: (she looks at him and grins) Awesome! Er, what's your name? And what's his name? And what's video game guy's name. Boy: You ask too many questions. I'm Gage, the other guy is Hunter and..."video game guy" (in air-quotes) is...Karen or something. I don't know. I don't care for him. Don't tell him I said that. Lizzy: Karen? Gage: Or something. Lizzy: Or somethin? What the hail do you even mean by "or somethin"? (she laughed) I highly doubt that boy's got a name like Karen; my God, he's a BOY. Gage: Mmm, talk more Virginia Tidewater to me, babe. Lizzy quickly drifted from the topic before things could get weird. She also mentally slapped herself in the face for allowing her accent to suddenly slip into this conversation, and allowed herself to be amazed by how Gage could so easily pick up that she was from Virginia. Lizzy: What do you go to school for, Gage? Gage: Again, with the questions thing! Lizzy: Oops, sorry. Silence again. Gage: Economics. I'm studying economics. Yazzy: Cool! Gage: Not really. Damn, this guy was cold. / / / When Tori finished taking back her money, the girls bid farewell to Gage and Kieran (that's his name. Not Karen. Don't believe a word Gage says) and headed back to their own place. Yazzy said goodnight to the others as soon as they arrived back, and Ash sat on a stool at the counter to read a book. Tori: Goddammit, how am I going to watch TV? (she hugged the box of money close to her chest, and sat down on the empty patch of flooring where the couch once was) Lizzy: Relax. We'll buy a new one tomorrow. (she looked over at Gegi, who was standing next to her) How are you doing? Gegi: Good. I'm going to bed, goodnight. Lizzy: You want to borrow some nightclothes or something? Gegi: Nah, I'll be fine. She left the room. Lizzy looked down at Tori, who was still sitting there on the floor, resting her chin on the top of the box. Lizzy sighed and took a seat next to her. They sat there in silence for a minute. Lizzy: I still can't believe you kept fifteen-fucking-thousand dollars in a couch. Tori: Let me live. ---- AUTHOR'S NOTE: Soooo...don't kill me, but I changed the plot a bit. The boys are no longer going to live in the same flat as the girls. I thought that'd be weird & unrealistic, and I didn't want to go through what I went through with the girls in the first chapter, where I had to introduce them all at different times and give them all different stories for why they move in with Lizzy and the others. As you can see now, the boys are going to live in the flat next to Lizzy's. In further chapters, we'll see the girls and boys bond as they go through adventures as neighbors. Leave any comments or suggestions below. Hope you guys liked this update! Category:Blog posts